09 February 2019

Exponent, Part 3

The interesting thing about a pattern that doubles is that each new increase round and plain round uses about as much yarn as the whole pattern up to that point.

Let's say you start at the very center with one pair.
Cast-on: 1 pair.
Set-up round:1 pair.
At this point, you have worked 2 pairs total.

1st round: increase to 2 pairs.
The increase round contained as many stitches as the previous 2 rounds.
2nd round: plain round of 2 pairs.
At this point, you have worked 4 more pairs, so 6 pairs total in the project.

3rd round: increase to 4 pairs.
The third round uses as much yarn as rounds 1 & 2.
4th round: plain round of 4 pairs.
At this point, you have worked 8 more pairs. Add to the previous 6 pairs, and you have worked 14 pairs total.

5th round: increase to 8 pairs.
The fifth round uses as much yarn as rounds 3 & 4.
6th round: plain round of 8 pairs.
At this point, you have worked 16 more pairs. Add to the previous 14 pairs, and you have worked 30 pairs total.

7th round: increase to 16 pairs.
The seventh round uses as much yarn as round 5 & 6.
8th round: plain round of 16 pairs.
At this point, you have worked 32 more pairs. Add to the previous 30 pairs, and you have worked 62 pairs total.

As you can see, each time you work an increase round and a plain round, you use up about as much yarn as you have used to this point in the project. Every time you work an increase round, you use as much yarn as the previous increase round and plain round combined. If you weigh your yarn as you go, it is easy to know when to bind off. Depending on your choice of bind-off, you may be consuming a little more yarn than a normal round.

If you have just worked a plain round and about half your yarn remains, work an increase round and then bind-off on the plain round.

Or, weigh every pair of increase rounds and plain rounds. When the most recent pair of rounds about matches what remains, work an increase round binding off as you go. If the most recent pair of rounds weighs about half of what remains, work an increase round followed by binding-off on a plain round.

There are a couple ways to bind-off. You can simply bind-off in pattern. For a more structured edge, use a flat (Japanese) three-needle bind-off. You can work it on knitting needles or with a crochet hook. And you don't need to divide the knits and purls of the ribbing on to separate needles.

If you want to purchase a fully written-up copy of Exponent, you can find it here on Ravelry.